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Cubs prioritize Vitters' development over Stewart

2013 MLB.com Top Prospects: Vitters played for Team USA in the 2009 Futures Game and was an All-Star in the Northwest, Midwest and PCL

By Carrie Muskat
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MLB.com |

PITTSBURGH -- Ian Stewart was projected as the Cubs' regular third baseman for 2013 before he was injured in Spring Training, and he is now playing for Triple-A Iowa. However, Stewart is not high on the organization's depth chart at third base.

According to Stewart, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told him that Josh Vitters, the team's No. 1 Draft pick in 2007, would be getting most of the at-bats.

"[Vitters] is the priority, put it that way," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Tuesday. "Who knows about third basemen of the future, but he's a priority to develop as that guy. The guy was a first-round pick, and the guy can swing the bat. We still have to develop him with the thought of him being our third baseman some day. He's got power, he can swing, he can hit a fastball. But there's a lot of development left in him."

Where does that leave Luis Valbuena, who is getting the majority of at-bats at third with the big league team? Vitters is 23 years old, Valbuena is 27, and Stewart is 28.

"If Valbuena keeps playing the way he is, he's our third baseman," Sveum said. "He's doing a very nice job. That's just what you do in the Minor Leagues -- you develop people to be in that spot. Whether it happens [with Vitters], who knows? That's usually up to the individual who you're trying to develop. They'll force your hand, one way or the other."

Vitters, who has been battling a sore quad, was batting .275 for Iowa with two home runs and seven RBIs heading into Tuesday.